The present invention is directed to a shoe mold device comprised of an upper and a lower mold portion wherein the upper mold portion is rotatable and includes a plurality of mold sides which can be closed against the bottom mold portion. The shoe mold device of the invention permits the manufacture of shoe soles which have a plurality of layers which vary in color or composition.
There has recently been an increase in the popularity of shoe soles which are comprised of a plurality of layers wherein the layers of sole material are manufactured in such a way so as to provide a particular desired visual effect. For example, shoe soles having various different tread designs and thicknesses are very popular in the shoe retail market. Shoes having soles comprised of different colored layers or of layers which vary in thickness are also known. In addition, it is sometimes desirable to vary the composition of the various sole layers in order to provide, for example, an outermost layer which is wear-resistant together with innermost layers which are softer and more comfortable to the wearer.
Presently existing manufacturing techniques for making shoe soles of a plurality of layers generally require numerous stations and substantial manufacturing plant space. In these systems, the shoe sole in manufacture is transported from station to station whereby each individual station performs a separate manufacturing step. These types of devices however besides requiring substantial amounts of manufacturing plant space also require increased manufacturing and labor costs.